Mike Lazaridis to take BlackBerry private?

In a weird twist of events BlackBerry may become a private company with one of its original founders Mike Lazaridis buying it out. That, of course, is still a rumor but as they say – where there’s smoke there’s fire.

According to the New York Times report, Lazaridis might be making a play to bid for BlackBerry, with “people familiar with the matter” indicating he has reached out to private equity firms Blackstone Group and the Carlyle Group to explore the possibility of doing this. However, the same people also stated “that the talks were preliminary and might not lead to any bids.”

As one would expect, Lazaridis declined to comment on this, leaving us pondering whether this could be a good deal for BlackBerry or not.

On one hand, taking BlackBerry private would keep the company focused on the long-term goals. On the other hand, we’re not sure whether governments which use BlackBerry’s hardware and services would like the idea that much — as a private company BlackBerry wouldn’t have to be open about its business and that could hurt their sales. If it could work for Dell, it may not work for BlackBerry. Or could it?

Recent BlackBerry figures are disappointing. The company announced plan to reduce its workforce by 40%, leaving it with some 7,000 full-time employees all around the world. Meanwhile, they continue to “evaluate all strategic alternatives,” including a sale, partnership or licensing its software.